With economic times so uncertain, lookingto the past can be particularly helpful forguidance. Aetna Sign Group, the 80–yearoldSan Antonio institution specializing insome of our city’s most identifiable signs, isone such company whose past is a welcomecompass today. Aetna was able to parlaythe hard times of the 1980s and early 1990sinto unbridled success. Much like today, therecession was causing a panicked state –Aetna was no stranger to the discomfort.
Being the third generation of Gottsmans inthe sign business, President Larry Gottsmanhas made it a priority to keep the familybusiness active and successful. When hetook a hard look at the company during thisrecessionary period, he knew he had to makesome changes to continue that success.
“My company was in danger,” Gottsmansaid. “We had invested enormous amountsof money in a new plant, satellite officesand capital equipment and were totallyunprepared for the downturn that took place.I knew there was no way to survive giventhe overhead we had at the time. I had todo something and there were a number ofoptions: file bankruptcy, do a massive layoffor look for other industries that we may beable to serve.”
Gottsman sought the council of businessowners while attending Harvard BusinessSchool, who encouraged him to analyzewhere he wanted his business to go. Thoughhe knew he had an abundance of talent onstaff, he decided to change the structure ofthe company by downsizing.
The path would be tough, and one thatwould lead through uncharted waters atthat. Aetna had been creating innovativesignage for three generations and thethought of trimming down so much of thecompany in order to save it was frighteninglyuncomfortable.
He kept some of the most talented andbusiness–minded employees an active partof the company. “Entrepreneurial spiritssometimes show up as employees. The peopleI had surrounded myself with were verytalented; to lose them would have meant arebuilding process, which I was not preparedto undertake,” Gottsman said. “Out of about100 employees, I chose five or six of thoseentrepreneurial–minded people, the ones thatwould stop in the office, give me ideas andtalk about ways we could save money. We metfor almost a year in developing each of theparticular businesses that would best supportour needs and cut the rest.”
The process was counterintuitive toGottsman, to say the least. “This was not theway that my grandfather, William Gottsman,created the company. We had always doneeverything under the Aetna umbrella. But itwas what my advisors (at Harvard BusinessSchool) were telling me to do; I had to trustthem and I had to trust my employees thatwere going to run the new companies.”
What eventually resulted were a coupleof installation companies and two or threemanufacturing companies. “To succeed, Iknew these companies needed a good salesorganization and be well financed,” Gottsmansaid. “We already had the sales organization,and we knew the new companies wouldn’t betaking on any bad debt because Aetna wouldbe their primary customer. By the time theywould bring on more risk they’d already beestablished enough to handle it. As for ourcustomers, they didn’t care who was doingthe installation and manufacturing, as long asthey continued to get what they needed.”
Aetna’s radical change freed up thecompany to focus on the two aspects thatGottsman loved most: unique design andthe associated advertising benefits. “Whenyou have a big manufacturing concern youmust sell a lot of product to keep up withthe overhead. When you downsize, theoverhead commitment becomes far less ofa factor and you can focus on design. Thegoal of my grandfather and father had alwaysbeen to improve the visual environment; thereorganization of Aetna allowed us to focuson just that.”
Redeveloping Aetna’s forte – design –garnered attention across the industry.Gottsman’s father, William Gottsman Jr., wonso many first place awards in design, in fact,that he quit entering because the challengewas no longer there. Aetna’s River CenterMall sign won an International First Placefrom Signs of the Times magazine, and Aetnahas won hundreds of other awards fromvarious industry associations. It was aroundthis time that Aetna’s reputation for uniquesignage began to snowball.
The reorganization of the company alsoallowed Aetna to create more and moreunusual signage. “We always strive to leavesomething behind – a wow factor – withevery design,” Gottsman said. “We don’t wantit to look like a ‘sign’ but more of a symbol torepresent the company.”
The ensuing obstacle in many cases isrestrictions on signage size and height, soAetna looks for creative ways to circumventsuch limitations. “The 65–foot–tall saxophonein Houston for Billy Blue’s was made outof used car parts. It wouldn’t pass approvalbecause it was too tall, so it was insteadapproved as a work of art which doesn’thave any limitations on height. Similarly, the75–foot–tall guitar for Mars Music in OrangeCounty, California wouldn’t pass local signcodes either, so we had it classified as a pieceof architecture to enhance the building.”
Thinking outside the box with design,implementation and execution is one of thehallmarks of Aetna Sign Group. After 80years, the company has seen many swings inthe economy, but it was in the most tryingof times that Aetna found its most lastingsuccess.
